Chapter 67

Ruby

For the first time since I’ve been here, the infirmary is full of people. Members of Atwood’s pack, servants, and even my own classmates are being treated for their wounds. All of the cots are taken by people whose bodies have been mauled by the Bears… as I walk through the aisles, pacing while the medics tend to Atwood, I see that there are several cots in which the faces of the victims have been covered with gray bed sheets. Those victims have succumbed to their wounds and passed onto the next life. Thankfully, I don’t see Ruby, Tamara, or Cayden anywhere.

One of the medics comes up to me finally after what has felt like an eternity of pacing and biting my lip.

“He’s stable,” she says quietly. “But only for now. If it’s alright with you, we’d like to ask that you stay by his side. A mate’s presence can speed up the healing process.”

I nod vehemently, following the medic to Atwood’s cot.

Physically he looks alright with no wounds, but his body looks drained of energy. The medics have hooked him up to all sorts of tubes to track his body and pump him full of medicine and fluids. Seeing him like this pains me more than I could ever imagine, and we’re not even mates just yet.

“Miss Ruby, you’re bleeding,” one of the medics says, rushing over to me. I look down at my arm to see a large gash; it doesn’t hurt, probably from shock, but it does remind me of my fight with Edith. For some reason, the fight feels as though it happened so long ago.

“Edith is in the library,” I say.

Even though Edith has tried to ruin my life and even kill me, I don’t want her to die. I hope it’s not too late. Two medics run to the library to find her while the other medic cleans my wound and wraps my arm in a bandage.

The whole time she works, all of my focus is on Atwood. Eventually, she finishes patching up my wound and leaves me alone with Atwood while he sleeps.

I’m not sure how long exactly I sit with him, but soon the sun comes up. I don’t feel tired, though. I have to stay awake for Atwood in case he needs me.

Around six or seven o’clock, there is a tap on my shoulder.

I turn around to see Doctor Yang standing behind me with his medical kit in his hand.

“You need rest and food,” he says gently. “I’ll make sure he’s okay while you’re gone.”

I don’t want to leave Atwood, but it seems that I don’t have much of a choice, because the doctor gently takes me by the shoulders and makes me stand before setting his medical kit down on the bed and starting his examination.

“Go on, Ruby,” he says, not turning around as he takes Atwood’s pulse. “There’s food in the dining hall.”

With a solemn nod, I reluctantly leave the infirmary and head toward the dining hall.

The room has been cleared of any debris caused by the attack and the tables have been laden with food. There’s bread, cheese, meat, eggs, anything that the cooks could find that hadn’t been destroyed or stolen. Wounded people mill about filling their plates, limping to and fro with bandaged appendages.

I pick up a plate and make my way around the room to find something that doesn’t completely turn my stomach, although admittedly I have absolutely no appetite.

As I round the corner of one of the tables, I nearly run into someone due to the daze I’m in.

“Oh, sorry,” I murmur, looking up from the floor to see none other than Beck.

Her head is bandaged so that one eye is covered, and her arm is in a cast. In her other hand she holds a plate with a meager serving of eggs and toast. She scowls at me for a long moment, then brushes past me, knocking into my shoulder so hard that I drop my plate, scattering sausage links and toast all over the floor.

“What was that for?” I ask.

She stops and turns toward me. “None of this wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for you,” she snarls.

“Beck, the Bears attacking the castle has absolutely nothing to do with me,” I answer, balling up my fists.

Beck rolls her eyes -- or rather, her eye, since the other is bandaged. “If it wasn’t for your stupid party, none of these innocent people would be here right now.”

I want to respond, but the words catch in my throat. She’s right. Too many innocent people were injured and killed because they attended my party. Why did Atwood even throw my party if he knew the Bears would attack? Is he so blinded by trying to please me that he did it despite the kingdom’s best interests?

Before I can say anything, Beck turns on her heel and storms off.

I’ve lost my appetite completely now, so I leave the dining hall and decide to step outside for some fresh air instead.

Most of the bodies have been cleared from the lawn, but the snow is still coated in blood. I try not to look as I cross the lawn toward the line of trees.

As soon as I set foot into the forest, a brief vision flashes across my mind.

Nancy and Tamara are huddled behind a tree, shivering in the cold. Nancy’s leg is broken and she cannot walk.

The vision is only a split second. When I realize what’s happened, I bolt into the woods and start screaming for my sister and my friend. I run to the clearing to find the corpse of a Bear.

“Nancy?! Tamara?!” I yell, running up to the bear. The surrounding snow is covered in both Bear and Lycan footprints, making it difficult to tell exactly what happened, but it looks like they were fighting. Then, there are human footprints -- two small ones and one larger one with skids in the snow as though the other foot was dragging -- that lead off to the left of the clearing. I follow them, calling for Nancy and Tamara the whole time.

Suddenly, I hear a weak voice call out my name. I follow it to find exactly what I saw in my vision.

“Oh my god,” I cry out, running over to them and falling to my knees. My hands shake as I place them on Nancy’s broken leg. She winces and yelps at my touch, but lets me try to heal her.

“Your wound is too severe,” I say after a few moments of pressing on the wound with my hands and watching as nothing happens. “We have to get you back to the castle.”

I take my coat off and wrap it around Tamara, whose lips are blue and teeth are chattering from the cold.

“He didn’t come,” Nancy says as I help her to her feet, letting her put as much weight on me as she needs. “Cayden. He didn’t come. There was a Bear. I managed to kill it, but…”

“Shhh,” I answer, using my other arm to scoop Tamara up and hoist her onto my hip so I can walk the both of them back. “It’s alright. Tell me when you’re better.”

The walk back to the castle is long and we have to take a lot of breaks so Nancy can rest, but we finally make it to the edge of the woods.

“Medics! Help!” I scream as loud as I can while we cross the lawn. Several medics come running and whisk Nancy and Tamara to the infirmary without a word. Before I follow, I turn and look back at the woods.

What happened to Cayden?